SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGY

ENGINEERING

MATHEMATICS

2018 has seen continued emphasis on the teaching & learning of STEM and it’s related disciplines in our LEAH Schools. The aim of the LEAH STEM Action Group is to develop and facilitate a cross disciplinary approach to the teaching and learning of STEM in LEAH schools. Along with the 8 objectives of the group we also promote and support STEM teaching & learning in our individual schools.

To celebrate the end of another exciting year in our LEAH schools we would like to share a few highlights from 2018.

Once again the LEAH STEM ACTION GROUP would like to acknowledge and congratulate students from LEAH schools for their achievements in Science, Technologies, Mathematics and STEM co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Australian Mathematics Competition

Cornerstone College students in Years 7 – 10 competed against students from over 30 countries in the Australian Mathematics competition, where they were asked to solve 30 challenging problems in 75 minutes.

Prize Winner

We would like to congratulate Year 8 student Ella-Bree Zobel for receiving a prize in this competition.

High Distinctions

Year 9 students Benjamin Gast and Samuel Reissenweber also excelled and received a High Distinction in the competition.

digIT 2019

Year 8 Cornerstone College student Hannah Gray has been awarded an exclusive place in digIT 2019 at the University of Western Australia.

DigIT runs throughout 2019, and Hannah is one of 60 students selected to further studies in ICT while developing friendships with like-minded students from across Western Australia and South Australia.

NAO Robotics Dance Competition

Seven students from St Michael’s Lutheran Primary School participated in the final “Dance Off” of the NAO Everybody Dance competition in March this year. 10 teams of students were short-listed for this final, where they each programmed a 30 second dance routine for a humanoid robot to perform to music. The winning team was from Woodcroft College and the St Michael’s students won the prize for the highest scoring school.

Congratulations go to Thomas King, Harry Hughes, Tily Mickan, Elish Pace, Will Salmon, Thomas Boekel and Ryan Schwartz for their participation and success in this event.

Chess Competitions

In May, 20 students from St Mark’s Lutheran Primary School participated in the Hills Interschool Chess Tournament as part of SA Junior Interschool Chess. Primary school students from all over the Adelaide Hills competed and the St Mark’s team came 3rd out of 42 teams!

This success then enabled 4 year 6 students to compete in South Australian Junior Chess League State Finals in September. Congratulations Haidyn I, Jack V, Oliver H and William B for competing and finishing 14th out of 28 schools in this competition.

In August, Lobethal Lutheran Primary School in partnership with Chesslife hosted an Interschool
Chess Tournament for over 90 students from Adelaide Hills schools. Congratulations to the following students, who represented their school on the day – Olivia Emmett, Damien Riches, Charlotte Hughes, James and Henry Hooker and Jaxon White.

Lego League

Congratulations to students Asher Hodgson, Nicholas Doyle and Benjamin Murray and teacher/coach Alyssa Leach on representing Cornerstone College in the SA State Finals of Lego League.

The students presented a project on Artificial Gravity and ran a robot in 4 games, in which they were placed 15th out of 30 teams. The students won a special judges award for showing persistence even with the smallest team at the tournament!

Student’s Exhibiting their work

It’s always great to see student’s work being exhibited at the Royal Adelaide Show, regional shows and other community events. Whilst we realise there are many students who have been involved in such activities, we would like to acknowledge the following students for their achievements.

Prize Winning Cushion

Year 8 student, Hannah Gray, won first prize for her cushion at the Mt Barker Show. She also won the prize for Champion Junior Handicraft Secondary School.

Hannah made her cushion in her Year 7 Home Economics class. Her project utilised knowledge & understanding and processes & production skills from the Australian Design and Technologies Curriculum.

National Science Week started with a blast for our LEAH schools on Friday 10th August when Year 3, 4 and 5 students from St Mark’s, St Michael’s & Lobethal Lutheran primary schools ventured off to the Cornerstone College Science Labs for a day of Science exploration and discovery.

The day literally started with a blast when Mr Schoff, Deputy Principal of Cornerstone College, welcomed the students and showed them photos of his attempts to launch a rocket on the school oval. Student leader Lachlan Wybrow (Year 12) also welcomed the students with a prayer and Welcome to Country and he encouraged the students to pursue their interests in STEM subjects, including Science.

LEAH STEM Action Group co-ordinator, Mary Whittaker, also welcomed the students and encouraged them to look for connections between Science and the other STEM subjects (Technology, Engineering & Maths) in all the activities that they do during the day.

The theme for National Science Week was Game Changers & Change Makers and focussed on the Scientists, Engineers, Mathematicians, Designers and Innovators of the past and present who have made great improvements to the way we live. In line with this theme, students were split into 4 groups for the LEAH Science Day – Einstein, Curie, Galileo & Goodall. Some students had already researched information about these game changers earlier in the week at school.

Cornerstone Lead Science Teacher, Jane Hoffman, briefed the students in laboratory safety procedures, after which each group cycled through several activities during the day.

Chemical Colours

Students mixed chemicals together in test tubes to make the colours of the Australian flag, several AFL teams and the Socceroos soccer team.

Microscope Slides

Students viewed all sorts of life forms and materials up close through the lens of a microscope, including water fleas, houseflies, bacteria, yeast, a cockroach leg, onion skin, human blood and paper. Students were amazed at the intricate detail of some of these specimens and drew diagrams of their observations.

Minerals

Students learned about the rock cycle and then observed a range of different minerals and tested properties such as colour, streak & lustre.

Static Electricity and Magnetism

Students used a variety of equipment and materials to study the effects of static electricity and magnetism.

The Life of a Scientist

Students got an insight into the life of an astronomer, chemist, forensic scientist, environmentalist, botanist and human biologist, by using equipment and materials that these scientists use.

Science Demonstration & Prizes

The day concluded with a very exciting Science demonstration, where Cornerstone’s laboratory manager Lyn Castrique amazed the students with elephants toothpaste and flaming chemical colours. Each school then had the opportunity to win a book prize for their school library, through a “periodic table of the elements lucky element draw” and a “guess the number of science rocks” challenge. Schools were then presented with packs of science resources and a take home “Balloon Rocket” science kit for each student.

The LEAH STEM Action group would like to thank the Cornerstone staff & students for all of their time and effort in designing & setting up the activities and then helping the younger students on the day. The opportunity for primary school students to use full-size, state of the art laboratories and science equipment is limited, and so this was a real eye-opening experience for them and has inspired many of them to pursue STEM studies and careers.

As 2017 draws to a close, the LEAH STEM Action Group would like to acknowledge & congratulate many students on their achievements in extra curricular STEM activities. These activities allow students to broaden their knowledge & experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and related disciplines and in many cases, practice them in environments beyond the school grounds.

Primary students’ names are written in green and secondary students in blue.

ICAS Competitions

These competitions are conducted by the University of New South Wales. They are a suite of academic assessments for primary & secondary students in subjects including Science, Digital Technologies & Mathematics. Students from over 6,300 schools in Australia and New Zealand participate annually. More information about these competitions can be found here .

Cornerstone College students have been involved in a numbers of Science, Mathematics, Technologies & Engineering activities. Below is a summary of some achievements in these activities in 2017. More detailed information & photos can be found in the “connections at cornerstone” publications – Edition 15 and Edition 9.

Oliphant Science Awards

Eleanor Edwards – second prize in the Year 10 Scientific Inquiry category

International Science Competition

53 Cornerstone students achieved either a Distinction, a Credit or a Merit certificate

Australian Mathematics Competition

Luke Davis

Tain McCullum

George Bartley

Addison Martin

Sam Reissenweber

Benjamin Gast

Jacob Breadnam

Riley Hannam-Smith

Lachlan Crocker

Thomas Glover

Sophie Miller

Emily Marshall

Royal Adelaide Show Prizes

Prizes were awarded to several students for Science Investigations, Horticulture & Textiles.

Chess Clubs

Congratulations to Richard Fries, Ryan Marks, Oliver Hotker, Haidyn Ingram and Asher Hodgson who recently represented St Mark’s Lutheran Primary School at the South Australian Junior Chess League State Finals. The team finished a very credible 12th place.

Students at our 3 primary schools are involved in lunchtime chess clubs, which enable students to develop strategic & tactical skills while enjoying the challenge of competing with their peers.

Photo Challenge

During our Science in the Wetlands event in National Science Week, students were challenged to find and photograph objects related to several nature-based themes. Each group created an iBook containing the photos, along with verbal narrations. The winners of the challenge were the Scud group. Here are some sample pages from the student’s iBooks.

On Friday the 18th of August, a group of Year 4 & 5 students from LEAH schools headed to Cornerstone College to participate in the LEAH Science in the Wetlands event. Students from St Michael’s, St Mark’s and Lobethal Lutheran Primary Schools braved the cold weather to take part in range of activities that explored Biodiversity and Conservation in the ‘Purtinga’ wetlands.

Cornerstone Principal, Craig Fielke, welcomed students to the wetlands and encouraged them to build relationships with students from the other schools during their learning activities. Local MP, Rebekha Sharkie spoke to the students about the importance of preserving wetlands and keeping them free from litter & plastic bags.

Students then participated in a series of hands on activities that explored water quality, macro invertebrates, tree planting, native seed identification, habitat management, native frogs, environmental health and the use of drones in conservation. The activities were led by LEAH staff, Cornerstone College Biology students, Natural Resources (SA Murray- Darling Basin) Education Officers and Masters students from the University of Adelaide. Resources were also sourced from Habitats SA Revegetation Specialists & the SA Seed Conservation Centre. A full list of organisations, links and resources have been uploaded to our Resources Page – here.

During the day, students entered a competition where they estimated the number of Sheoak pods in a jar. Sienna from St Mark’s entered the closest entry (215) and won a copy of Adam Spencer’s book “Time Machine” for her school library. Well done Sienna! The correct number of pods was 223. Students also participated in a photo challenge, where they were given single “words” and had to take creative photos on iPads that represented these words. The winning group of this challenge will be announced soon.

At the end of the day, students were given a bag of resources to take home, which was donated by NRM, the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA). Mrs Muster thanked everyone for their involvement in the event and gave special thanks to the Cornerstone students, who were also given a resource bag and a book for their library.

Each school was also given a “Start from Seed” kit that was purchased from Trees for Life, which they can use to grow up to 50 plants to create a “butterfly garden.

The LEAH STEM Group are organising an interschool event for National Science Week, titled “Science in the Wetlands“. This event will take place on Friday 18th August and will include activities based on the National Science Week 2017 theme “Future Earth”.

A group of Year 4 & 5 students from our 3 primary schools will gather together for a day of activities that explore biodiversity and conservation in local wetlands. Students will meet at the Purtinga Environmental Centre & Wetlands at Cornerstone College, Mt Barker and will participate in a series of hands-on activities that explore Water Monitoring, Revegetation Techniques, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Health and the use of Drones & other technology in conservation. Activities will be led by Cornerstone College staff & students, Natural Resource Management Groups & Environment Specialists. The activities will build on the increased focus on environment and sustainability within our schools and support Australian Curriculum outcomes, Inquiry Based Learning, STEM subject participation and Nature Play activities.

Through presentations, interactive displays and hands on activities, students will build on their Science & Technology understanding and inquiry skills, as outlined in the Australian Curriculum. In particular, the activities will support Science & Technology achievement standards, where students

analyse how the form of living things enables them to function in their environments

classify substances according to their observable properties and behaviours

use equipment in ways that are safe and improve the accuracy of their observations

collect, organise and identify patterns in scientific data

explain how digital technology is used to meet scientific & environmental needs

manage the creation and communication of ideas and information in online collaborative groups

The event will also

engage students in science activities and allow them to explore future employment opportunities & career paths

develop inter-school and community STEM relationships and resource sharing

provide resources & plants for students to take away from the event to enhance the environment in their school, home or community